A well-organized operation had been set up by a 62-year-old man in Heraklion, Crete, who was distributing illicit alcoholic beverages and laughing gas through his warehouse.

Inspectors from the AADE Special Operations and Investigations Service (DEOS), together with officers from the Hellenic Police Directorate for Combating Organized Crime (DAOE), acted on information they had received and searched the warehouse.

They found and seized:

• 3,856 liters of alcoholic beverages (including vodka, gin and liqueurs), for which there were no purchase invoices or evidence that the required duties and taxes had been paid.
• 150 empty plastic bottles containing traces of alcohol and labels linking the quantities to a specific distillery business.
• 664 metal cylinders containing laughing gas (nitrous oxide), enough to produce up to 18,000 balloons.
• 4,000 ready-to-use balloons containing the gas.

The inspectors took samples of the alcoholic beverages and sent them to the General Chemical State Laboratory to determine whether they were suitable for human consumption.

The business owner was arrested and brought before a prosecutor. The case file also names two other individuals.

The DAOE and DEOS are also inspecting a warehouse belonging to the same distillery business in mainland Greece, as authorities believe the same practices may be taking place at all of the company’s facilities.